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The battle starts directly after the previous battle with Barthandelus with the same settings. Orphan utilizes Instant Death attacks. Orphan has low resistance to many status effects, including Slow and Imperil, and is susceptible to Poison.

In the first half of the battle, Orphan switches between Consummate Light and Consummate Darkness. During Consummate Light Orphan only has access to a slap attack which hits all nearby party members for moderate damage, and also regularly heals itself for around 2,500 HP per turn. Its Consummate Darkness mode is more dangerous, as its laser attack inflicts a fair amount of damage to a single party member, while also inflicting many debilitating status ailments.

Whenever Orphan switches form, it uses the powerful Merciless Judgment attack, dealing fractional damage to all party members and leaving them with dangerously low HP. Players cannot perform actions or paradigm shift while this attack is in action. Though Merciless Judgement normally cannot kill, it may kill if the characters are poisoned. Merciless Judgement resets Orphan's chain gauge. Orphan uses Merciless Judgment as its first attack, and will also use it right after its stagger period ends.

After using Merciless Judgment in the wake of being staggered, if Orphan still has over half his HP remaining, it will switch to its dangerous Consummate Darkness form. The longer this form lasts, the more dangerous it becomes.

Once Orphan's HP is reduced to below half, Orphan will combine both forms. From now on, Merciless Judgment will happen without prior warning, and it gains access to Progenitorial Wrath that attacks all party members and has a small chance of inflicting Instant Death, potentially ending the battle if the death effect takes effect on the party leader.

Orphan may cast Doom at random whenever its HP is low, though it has a rare chance of occurring.

While the battle starts directly after the previous battle with Barthandelus, the player can pause the game and select Retry if they wish to adjust their paradigms or equipment. Combat Clinic (SEN/MED/MED) should be the party's starting paradigm. Creating a paradigm for Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN), Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV) and Aggression (COM/COM/RAV) is also recommended.

As Orphan uses Instant Death attacks, equipping the party leader with a Seraph's Crown is recommended. Since Cherub's Crowns do not stack completely, equipping three will only result in a 66% resistance to death, whereas a max level Seraph's Crown will provide you with 60% resistance. Equipping three max level Seraph's crowns will provide the player with a 94% resistance.

As Orphan is susceptible to Poison, it may be wise to have a character who can cast Poison as the party leader (Vanille, Lightning or Sazh). It will take a couple of tries to stick Orphan with Poison. The player will probably need to do this twice in the battle. This will make the battle easier, because of the way Poison works: it removes a constant percentage of the target's maximum HP, meaning the more HP the target has, the more effective Poison is. Poison removes about 0.32% of the total health bar per second. It is about 19.2% per minute. The player could remove health in just over 5 minutes, using only Poison.

Player should use Esuna as soon as the party is debuffed. Merciless Judgement resets Orphan's chain gauge, so the player should not wait too long with attacking again after he uses it, or his bar will be reset before the party can stagger him.

Orphan's full form with the lyrics of the song "Ragnarok" inscribed in the blade.

Orphan uses Merciless Judgment as its first attack, which is why using Combat Clinic as the first paradigm is recommended. After the party has recovered from the attack, they should shift to Evened Odds. Orphan has low resistance to many status effects. The Synergist will concentrate on placing Haste, Protect, Shell, Veil and Enfire on all party members while the Medic should heal when needed.

Once these status effects are in place, the party should shift to Relentless Assault. With the party's Enfire status, coupled with Orphan's Imperil, it will not be long before Orphan is staggered, but the player should shift back to Combat Clinic whenever healing is required. Once stagger occurs, the party should shift to Aggression and attack. Depending on how powerful the party is, Orphan will have lost around half its HP once the first stagger period ends. After the stagger period ends, Orphan will immediately use Merciless Judgment, so the party should shift to Combat Clinic before this happens.

After Merciless Judgment, if Orphan still has over half his HP remaining, it will switch to its dangerous Consummate Darkness form. It is best to ignore any status ailments inflicted on the party and shift to Relentless Assault and aim to stagger it as quickly as possible. Once stagger is achieved, the party should shift to Evened Odds to reapply any expired buffs on the party and debuffs on the enemy, then shift to Aggression to inflict as much damage as possible. Again, the party should shift to Combat Clinic just before the stagger period ends to protect against Merciless Judgment.

Once Orphan's HP is reduced to below half, it will combine both forms into one, and continue using Progenitorial Wrath, which has a chance of inflicting Instant Death. The Cherub Crowns equipped prior to battle should lower the chances of it landing on the party leader, but do not remove the threat entirely.

Progenitorial Wrath prioritizes targeting Sentinels and Medics, so being in paradigms with a Sentinel or a Medic will help divert the attention away from the party leader, although the party must be in the paradigm(s) before Orphan starts casting Progenitorial Wrath for this to work. If any other party members are inflicted with Instant Death, the leader can use a Phoenix Down as it is quicker and restores more HP than Raise.

During this stage, the party should use Relentless Assault and aim to stagger Orphan, remembering to shift to Combat Clinic if a party member's HP bar turns yellow. Once staggered, the party should switch to Aggression and aim to finish the battle.